INDYCAR: Change Of Approach For Meira

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Change Of Approach For Meira

"It’s not a case of choosing where I want to go," Vitor Meira told SPEED.com. "I have to find all the money before I can offer it and make that deal."

Marshall Pruett | Posted November 17, 2011

Despite earning seven top 10s in 2011, the relationship between Vitor Meira and the A.J. Foyt team had run its course. Both parties are now hoping to make fresh starts. (LAT)

They share the same profession, a love for Triathlons, and now, the same occupational reality.

One year after Tony Kanaan was forced to find his own sponsors to continue racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series, his friend, fellow Brazilian Vitor Meira, is headed down the same path.

Now a free agent after a semi-positive three-year stint with A.J. Foyt Racing, the 34-year-old has been forced to accept what has become the norm for many IndyCar drivers: If you want to stay in the game, be prepared to bring your own sponsors.

Meira is now following in the tracks of his friend Tony Kanaan as he searches for his own sponsorship to continue in 2012. (LAT)

Bringing money to a team these days no longer carries the automatic stigma of being a ‘ride buyer,’ as Kanaan, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe and other quality drivers have shown, but it doesn’t make the transition any easier for a veteran like Meira to accept.

10 seasons into his IndyCar Series career, Meira told SPEED.com he’s learning to embrace his newfound independence. He's also doing a lot more than simply waiting for a team owner to call with an offer to return for season number 11.

“Right now I’m talking with a lot of people about sponsorship, but I can’t go into details at this moment,” he said. “My goal is to come back way stronger than previously. That’s where things are heading to. [I’m] far from giving up, there are a number of good things going on right now.”

Like Kanaan, Meira has also found the challenge of seeking his own backing to be a rather unique skill to master.

“It’s not 15 years ago,” he said. “That’s the reality of racing. Look at those F1 rookie tests they’re having now—guys are paying 300,000 Euros just to test instead of teams inviting them to test like they used to. It’s happening everywhere. Unfortunately, my position is I’m going after money. If I wait for something to happen on its own, it might, but I’m not going to sit on my butt and wait. I’m after my own money.

“That’s why I can talk to all the teams, and as early as it is, they are all going to say they need money. If we get close to the season, maybe a team will offer [for me] to drive for free, or share prize money or maybe pay a little bit of money to drive, but I don’t want to sit and hope and wait until then. I know they need money, and it’s my job to find as much as I can. It’s going to dictate how good of a ride I have.”

As one of few drivers to have a fulltime, paying ride in 2011, Meira finds himself in an interesting position with the 2012 season just around the corner. Knowing that he needs to find sponsors to secure the best seat available, the race is now on to complete his budget before the most competitive drives are taken.

The next few months won't be easy for the popular Brazilian, but plenty of IndyCar fans are pulling for him to make the grid at the season-opening race at St. Petersburg in March. (LAT)

“To be honest, how many drivers are in the position they want to be?” he asked. “And I’m not talking about the teams they are in; it’s about the business side and what we [drivers] have to do to keep things going. To make sense of it right now, the money has to come from somewhere and the sooner the better.

"If you look at TK, he didn’t want to end up in that position, but he had to accept it and deal with it, and that’s where I am now. For him, it went down to the wire, and of course you don’t want that to happen. It’s just the way things are now. It’s easier to count the IndyCar drivers who don’t bring any money than the ones that do.”

Meira’s sense of urgency to start the next chapter on his career was palpable. By electing to go his own way—to chart his own path, rather than hope to be pulled out of the unemployment line—he’s chosen an off-season filled with hard work and plenty of anxiety.

The sooner he can answer questions on where he’ll drive next year, the happier he’ll be, but Meira knows that being patient is part of the job.

“I hope to have something to announce before Christmas, but it’s not up to me,” he said. “I’m trying so hard to make everything happen quickly, but you know these things go at their own pace. Believe me, I’m the first one who wants to have everything answered. It’s not a case of choosing where I want to go—I have to find all the money before I can offer it and make that deal. I want to control my fate. I was put into this position and now I want to get out of it as soon as possible.

Where would you like to see Vitor land in 2012? Click here to comment below!

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.